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5. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 in the Material Editor, and apply the Rock 02 Substance texture to the scene blocks.

The rest of the models have materials already, so we can move on to lights. Figure QS.4 shows the Slate Material Editor.

FIGURE QS.4

The Material Editor lets you configure and apply materials to scene objects.

Tutorial: Adding a Sun & Sky system

One benefit of having the mental ray renderer enabled is that you also can use the Sun & Sky system. This system simulates outdoor lighting from a distant source like the sun and generates a sky for the background.

To add a Sun & Sky system to the scene, follow these steps:

1. Select the Rendering⇒Render Setup menu command (or press F10) to open the Render Setup dialog box. At the very bottom of the Common panel is the Assign Renderer rollout. Within this rollout, click the button to the right of the Production Renderer and double-click the mental ray Renderer option in the Choose Renderer dialog box that opens. Then close the Render Setup dialog box.

2. Select the Create⇒Lights⇒Daylight System menu command, and drag in the Top viewport to add a compass helper to the scene. Click Ok to the request to enable the Exposure Control warning dialog box. Then click and drag to position the Sun light icon in the Top viewport.

Note

When the Daylight system is applied, a dialog box automatically appears recommending that you use the Logarithmic Exposure Control and asking whether you want to make this change. Click Yes to continue. •

3. Select the Rendering⇒Environment menu command (or press the 8 key) to open the Environment and Effects dialog box. Click the Environment Map button, and select the mr Physical Sky map from the Maps/mental ray folder in the Material/Map Browser. Then enable the Use Map option, and close the Environment dialog box.

4. Choose the Views⇒Viewport Background⇒Viewport Background menu command (or press Alt+B) to open the Viewport Background dialog box. Select the Perspective viewport, enable the Use Environment Background and the Display Background options, and close the dialog box.

5. Click the Maximize Viewport button in the lower-right corner of the interface (or press Alt+W) to make the Perspective viewport full-sized.

6. With the daylight light selected, click the Setup button in the Daylight Parameters rollout found in the Modify panel. Then set the Time Hours to 11. This sets the time of day to late afternoon.

7. To see the lights and shadows in the viewport, click the viewport shading label in the upper-left corner of the viewport and select the Lighting and Shadows⇒Illuminate with Scene Lights menu command (or press Shift+F3). Then turn on Shadows and Ambient Occlusion in the same Lighting and Shadows menu.

The viewport now shows the scene with a background sky, as shown in Figure QS.5.

FIGURE QS.5

The sky background is visible within the viewport.

Tutorial: Rendering a preview

Before moving to animation, you can render the scene now that lights have been added. Rendering is configured using the Render Scene dialog box.

To render a preview of the castle wall scene, follow these steps:

1. Select the Rendering⇒Render menu command (or press the F10 key), and open the Indirect Illumination panel. Turn on the Enable Final Gather option, and set the Preset to Medium. This computes a global illumination model by determining how light rays bounce about the scene.

2. Back in the Common panel of the Render Scene dialog box, select the image size in the Common Parameters rollout and click the Render button. The active viewport is rendered and displayed in the Render Frame Window.

Tip

This scene is fairly simply and renders quickly, but if you need the test render to be even faster, you can enable the Quicksilver Hardware Renderer instead of the mental ray. •

The rendered image, as shown in Figure QS.6, includes all the materials and lighting effects.

FIGURE QS.6

The rendered image of the scene includes the lighting effects.

Creating